


Marriage (Un)Maketh (Wo)Man

by Ezzy



Series: Victoriana Gotham [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 10:32:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8159029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezzy/pseuds/Ezzy
Summary: When yet another rejected suitor leaves the Manor, Master Timothy finally cracks and asks Miss Barbara about the intricacies keeping their beloved Dee from being eligible.Miss Barbara took a moment to look at him then, a detective who knew everything about locks and poisons but still a boy who knew nothing of society.





	1. A suitor cometh...

When yet another rejected suitor leaves the Manor, Master Timothy finally cracks and asks Miss Barbara about the intricacies keeping their beloved Dee from being eligible.

“You don’t understand,” sighs Miss Barbara “it’s not about her being eligible; the Wayne name lends her more than enough respectability, even with her background, and promises a fortune as well.”

“Then why isn’t she?” replied Timothy, distressed at the idea of their Dee pining away a lonely spinster. 

Miss Barbara took a moment to look at him then, a detective who knew everything about locks and poisons but still a boy who knew nothing of society.

“Because she doesn’t want to.”

She met his startled gaze with a hard stare of her own.

“Think about it; if she marries one of Gotham’s blue bloods, that’s it. No more Mission, no more occasional jaunts in the circus; she won’t even be able to cartwheel down the stairs; she’d be just another Gotham beauty, trapped in a domestic birdcage. And yet if she marries another carnie she’ll lose all the respectability Lord Bruce has brought her and she’ll never be able to return.”

Timothy bit his lip, never having thought about the consequences of marriage in such a way before. Barbara merely rolled her eyes. 

“Oh don’t look so grim, the chances of Lord Bruce finding anyone he deems worthy of her hand are slimmer than the latest fashion for corseted waistlines. And whilst I doubt he would object if Dee truly loved someone, she seems perfectly happy to remain at Wayne Manor at present.”

“But what about if she wants children?” Timothy objected, “Or if Lord Wayne wishes to marry? She was only his ward, and she turned eighteen months ago; people will talk if they continue to live together with only the staff to chaperone.”

Barbara merely raised an eyebrow.

“We shall see. Only time will tell.”


	2. ...A suitor goeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce was staring into the fire from the armchair in his office when he heard the faint sound of a body shifting in the room, followed by a tinkle and laughter. His body relaxed imperceptibly, though he continued looking at the grate. 
> 
> “Proper young ladies don’t hang from chandeliers.” He heard a small thump as she made landing with the floor.

Bruce was staring into the fire from the armchair in his office when he heard the faint sound of a body shifting in the room, followed by a tinkle and laughter. His body relaxed imperceptibly, though he continued looking at the grate. 

“Proper young ladies don’t hang from chandeliers.” He heard a small thump as she made landing with the floor.

“Proper young ladies do needlework and crochet according to Alfred, not acrobatics.” 

Lithe arms wrapped around his shoulders. So she wasn’t angry at him, good.

“Proper young ladies don’t snoop when men come to ask for her hand in marriage.”

“Proper young ladies go to bed on time and don’t stalk the night hunting criminals.” She retorted. “But tell me, what was wrong with this one?”

Bruce finally turned her. “He was a charlatan and a fortune hunter,” he told her severely, “a naïve fool who would drag you into ruin with him.”

Her eyes reflected the flames, dancing with them, entirely un-cowed. 

“A charlatan, a fortune hunter and a naïve fool, how many flaws can one man contain?”

“Many.” Bruce replied curtly, well aware of his own. 

Delilah leaned closer in, a loose stand of hair tickling Bruce’s cheek.

“And the last one?”

So she knew about the last one too, damn.

“He was a rogue and bounder.”

Dee laughed, full and joyful, apparently amused by the sin and vermin that made up Gotham’s eligible bachelors. 

“I only thought it strange to be attached enough to ask for my hand in marriage after only a few meetings at social gatherings, I had not picked up on all these dark depths you keep discovering in our visitors.”

Bruce felt the side of his mouth twitch upwards. “Well I am a master detective.”

He got a small smile in return, before Dee’s face returned to staring at the fire, a shadow coming over her face. 

“Though I have to say, what I understand even less is why they keep coming for your permission without even asking for mine.”

His heart quickening, Bruce put his hand over Dee’s still resting on the back on his armchair, unsure what to say. He knew she chafed at the restrictions society placed on her for her sex and her status. 

Used to travelling the country and being allowed much greater freedom before Gotham, Delilah had found the restraints placed on her – etiquette, corsetry – trying. It had been easier when she was younger, there was more leniency about running in corridors and skirt length for children. And as Robin she had clothed herself as a boy to protect her identity and had all the freedom she desired.

But Dee was older now, it was much harder to pass herself off as male and Bruce worried about the attention she was starting to receive. In both identities. 

It had been five months since her 18th birthday, and she had legally stopped being under his guardianship. For now there was a grace period, no one expected him to kick her to the curb or marry her off overnight. But the suitors kept coming and Gotham began to talk. 

Bruce clutched her hand tighter, unsure if he was trying to comfort her or keep her with him. He wouldn’t let her become some beautiful bauble, the kept housewife of some Gotham elite who would impose all the strictures and expectations of that on her. 

Maybe he should let her go, let her rejoin the circus or travel, let her regain her freedom. However if she did that she could never come back, all respectability his guardianship had bestowed on her would be lost. He couldn’t lose her. 

Dee sighed softly, turning her hand over in his so their fingers laced and bending her cheek to rest against his hair. This girl, this woman, so fearless, effusive, and full of grace. 

There was so much he couldn’t say, about how she deserved more, how he didn’t know if there was anything or anyone worthy of her. How he was trying so hard to find it, but was so unready to lose her now, if he ever would be. 

Instead he stroked her hair, once, but letting it linger. Then stood up. 

“Well now that we’ve dealt with one unsavoury side of Gotham, I suppose we shall move on to the other. 

She grinned up at him, bright and undimmed once more. 

“Are these ones a cowardly, superstitious lot?”

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason I wrote a Victorian AU about a genderbent Dick Grayson. If you can find that reason please let me know, in the meantime there's more coming.


End file.
